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Abstract

In recent years, the role of community hospitals in health care delivery has undergone a dramatic change. Until the latter half of the twentieth century, a hospital was merely a "doctor's workshop," providing physicians with the physical facilities, equipment, and personnel necessary to treat their private patients. Due to progressive medical technology, today's hospital has moved from a passive role in patient care to more active participation in the delivery of total health care. The hospital has become a health care provider in its own right, furnishing a broad range of diagnostic and outpatient services, home care assistance, and specialized treatment programs. The transformation of hospitals into community health centers has led the public to rely on these institutions to provide the necessary care. Indeed, in public relations activities, hospitals consciously present themselves as unified bodies. As one court observed . . . . Accordingly, when utilizing its facilities, the patient relies upon this projected image of the modern hospital as a "highly integrated system." Historically, the hospital's accountability for the negligence of its medical staff has been predicated upon the theory of vicarious liability arising from either an employer-employee relationship or ostensible agency. It was not liable, however, for the torts of independent contractor physicians. Because the modern hospital assumes a more active role in the overall treatment of patients, the traditional bases of hospital liability are now undergoing judicial scrutiny. This reassessment has resulted in a determination by a growing number of jurisdictions that hospitals may be responsible directly for the quality of medical care rendered by independent practitioners through the application of the corporate negligence theory of liability. According to this theory, the hospital, as a corporate entity, is considered to owe certain duties directly to the patient for his care, management, and safety. Upon a showing that the hospital has breached this independent duty, it will face direct tort liability, notwithstanding any negligence on the part of an attending physician. This Comment illustrates the desirability of imposing an independent duty of care upon the hospital as a corporate entity. First, this Comment outlines the present methods relied upon to control professional incompetence, with particular emphasis on their deficiencies. After briefly tracing the development of the corporate negligence theory, this Comment then examines the scope of the hospital's affirmative duty under this doctrine. Finally, this Comment explores the practicality of implementing this theory of liability in Maine.

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